Cactus Recipes

Here's one of my favorite ways to eat cactus, fried with scrambled eggs!I also like to fry potatoes and onions until almost done, add the eggs and scramble them until almost done, then add the cactus and cook it long enough to just heat the cactus. Then some salt and pepper and salsa as it is loaded into heated tortilla shells.....

These make excellent breakfast burritos and are an easy thing to wrap and take to work for lunch.

I was picking and packing nopal cactus today and had the urge to take pictures of the nopales pads.We have here Grade-D (juicing Grade) cactus and Grade -C Gourmet grade nopal cactus pads in these pics.This is the quality we've got being harvested right now.

Above we have Grade-C nopales cactus. This is the grade we recommend for most culinary uses. This is an easy-to prepare nopal cactus that needs just a wiping under running water to clean off. They are excellent raw in salsa or a cool refreshing cactus salad. They can also be mixed with other foods as another ingredient in a healthy diet. Add some nopalitos diced-fine to your meatloaf and see how much moister the loaf is. Fry nopales in with other vegetables in a stir fry. Fry some potatoes and scramble eggs in, as the eggs are almost done toss your chopped cactus in, stir and spoon them into tortillas to make breakfast burritos.

This photo shows the Grade D 'Juicing Grade' nopalea cactus we're harvesting right now. The quality and looks changes through the year, it is a plant that grows outdoors after all. These Grade-D Juicing-grade cactus are thicker skinned with more weight per nopal pad. These are the leaves that grew over the winter. They've seen a few storms, but they are full of life. This is the grade people who are going to juice them might want to use. They have a lot more fiber than the younger leaves.

5 CACTUS RECIPES FOR CINCO DE MAYO

For this Cinco de Mayo, we’re skipping the carne asada and enchiladas and swapping them for a more traditional ingredient: cactus.

The nopal cactus, also known as “prickly pear,” is a plant native to the mountains of Mexico. It has been used as both a food and for its medicinal benefits by the native peoples of that region since ancient times. It has been widely valued for its nutrition and vitamin content, which includes riboflavin, vitamin B6, copper, iron, fiber, vitamin-A, C, K, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and manganese. It’s high content of dietary fiber makes it widely used to aid in digestion.

If your grocery store or farmers market doesn’t sell cactus, you can find it at most Latin grocery stores in the produce aisle, either whole or already prepped and chopped. (My local Whole Foods is selling bags of already chopped cactus for Cino de Mayo).

The nopal cactus is a staple food that has existed in the native Meso-American diet for more than 12,000 years, and it offers a nutritious supplement to many traditional Mexican dishes. Although there are over 200 edible varieties of the nopal cactus, the broad-leafed vegetable pads of the Opuntia ficus-indica species are most utilized in Mexican cuisine. Nopal cactus pads can be served raw, stir-fried, dried, or pickled and are commonly prepared as side dishes, salads, taco fillings, or omelets. Slimy, citrusy, and slightly sweet, nopal is a unique vegetable that can be an acquired taste.

In addition, nopal has been extensively studied for its potential health benefits. According to studies conducted by University of California, Los Angeles, nopal is effective in reducing LDL cholesterol—the “bad” cholesterol—and regulating blood sugar for diabetic patients. In addition, 15 percent of nopal’s weight is fiber, making it a great food to manage gastrointestinal tract movement.

Often referred to as “prickly pears” in the United States, nopal pads are being cultivated in Mexico and border-states such as California and Arizona for commercial export. Farmers, chefs, medical researchers, and consumers are recognizing the benefits of nopal and demand has tremendously increased in recent years. The cactus industry in Mexico alone is worth $150 million and employs 10,000 workers.Read more about the health benefits of nopal cactus.

Cactus Leaf PreparationOne should harvest the nopal cactus when the individual leaf is young and fresh. The leaves will generally be hand sized, they must have a glossy green sheen and be of minimum thickness, about 3/8" thick.